Kibatsu Cinema at The Powell Street...

The Powell Street Festival Society and Pacific Cinémathèque are pleased to present the third edition of “Kibatsu Cinema,” a celebration of the odd and the eccentric in Japanese pop culture and contemporary Japanese film. Kibatsu is a Japanese word denoting a person or thing that is, by ordinary standards, unusual or unconventional. As with our previous “Kibatsu Cinema” programs in 2007 and 2009, the quirky, smart, and stylish films on display here reveal the influences of a variety of Japan’s prominent pop-cultural streams, including manga and anime, pop and punk music, and the famed flamboyance of the country’s street fashions and youth cultures. This year, the Powell Street Festival partners with both the Pacific Cinémathèque and the DOXA Documentary Film Festival to present a unique series of over-the-top narratives, energetic anime and one playfully pulsating documentary.

“Kibatsu Cinema: eccentricity, popular culture and contemporary Japanese film” is a lead-up event to Vancouver’s 35th annual Powell Street Festival, a celebration of Japanese Canadian arts, culture and heritage. Festival weekend is July 30-31, with other events beginning in May. Please check powellstreetfestival.com for full schedule info

Curated by Susanne Tabata

“During the run-up to this festival Japan was struck by an earthquake — affecting many of our friends in the film community who are part of this festival. Our prayers are with their families and all of Japan.”

Doman Seman
Vancouver Premiere! This playfully fantastic non-sequitur non-narrative film from Gô Shibata will “kick down your doors of perception like a psychedelic SWAT team.”

Youth of the Beast
Seijun Suzuki’s 1963 thriller moves through the moody world of gangster gunrunners and drug dealers, where murderous impulses and sadistic perversions have no immediate foil.

Live From Tokyo
Canadian Premiere! Director Lewis Rapkin presents the mellow, aggressive and curious soundscapes that make up the independent music scene in Tokyo.

House
Nothing can prepare you for the “brain-boiling spew of psychotropic, psychedelic, sense-deranging WTF imagery” of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s cult film!

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
All ages welcome! The popularity of the Haruhi Suzumiya novels has led to serialized manga and anime adaptations, including this feature-length film.

The Powell Street Festival Society’s (PSFS) mission is to celebrate the arts and culture of Japanese Canadians and Asian Canadians, to encourage Asian Canadians to take a leadership role in the development of the arts in Canada, and to foster community development through cultural events. Our main activity is the presentation of the Powell Street Festival (PSF), an annual celebration of Japanese Canadian arts, culture and heritage.